Prince Alfred Hamlet

Prince Alfred Hamlet is a small town in the Western Cape province of South Africa.It was founded by Johannes Cornelis Goosen, who was born in the Klein Drakenstein and came to the Warm Bokkeveld as a young farmer.In March 1851 Goosen bought the farm Wagenbooms Rivier from George Sebastiaan Wolfaardt at the “fantastic” price of £6 000. Ten years later he measured out first 80 and then another 10 plots and sold them for £6 000 each. These plots had water rights and each owner also received one morgen of land to cultivate in the Bakoven River to grow feed for their animals.While Goosen was busy measuring out his plots, Queen Victoria's son Prince Alfred visited the Cape Colony. Goosen decided to name the new town after the Prince and so the name Prince Alfred Hamlet was born.In 1861 the first school was established with 42 pupils under the tutorship of Master Strobos. The building, a temporary construction, was known as the “House on Sticks”. In 1871 the “House on Sticks” was demolished when a permanent building became available. It was also used as the church.In 1906 the Prince Alfred Hamlet members of the Ceres Dutch Reformed Church decided to build their own church. D.G. Roux laid the cornerstone on 5 May 1906. Each member had to help by donating a delivery of the stones and each family bought its own pew. In 1926 a parsonage was built so that a full-time minister could be appointed to serve this congregation. On 5 November 1954 they broke away from Ceres “Mother” Church and Rev. I.B. Fourie took up the position of minister of the independent parish. On 25 April 1964 Fourie laid the cornerstone of the new church. The new building was opened on 14 and 15 November and the old building was converted into a hall.